Recreational Boat Kits
Premium aluminium boat kits, engineered by professional naval architects
Leveraging our expertise in large complex vessels, we bring a new level of design to the recreational kit boat market.
Precision engineered for all round performance, ride and handling, stability and strength, your pride and joy should look and perform with the best aluminium boats on the market, and leave quite a few in your wake.
Monohulls
Our standard mono hulls are deep vee hulls designed for an excellent ride in offshore conditions. We use a flooding keel or water ballast cavity which gives great stability at rest, and a solid feel similar to a much heavier boat. The keel is designed for rapid drainage so the boat transitions onto the plane much like a conventional design.
We run moderate sized reverse chines which keep spray down, without the pounding and harsh ride that comes with large, aggressively angled reverse chines. We also run carefully designed lower spray strakes to peel off spray before it climbs further up the hull, which both increases fuel efficiency and helps keep spray down.
Our bow shapes are designed for secure handling in hard downwind conditions. The combination of raked stem, smooth entry, and chine sweep gives lots of dynamic lift following seas, keeping the bow up and you in control. No white knuckle ride home in a big sea-breeze; much better control crossing that bar.
THE DESIGN DIFFERENCE
Building the best of anything means starting with the best possible design you can find. You can’t build a Ferrari using plans for a Trabant. Customise how you like, and add your own unique features and finishes. But start with that design to build something special.
Catamarans
Our catamarans are based on the hull shape we created for the high-tech Nauticraft R&D demonstrator craft several years back, which reinforced everything theory had told us about planing cats.
Design for a smooth ride in head seas is relatively straight-forward in a cat; it’s coming back the other way that’s tricky. The same design philosophy as for monohulls apply - only much more important.
Cat hulls are narrow so getting lift from the bow shape is crucial in beam to following seas. Raked stem, smooth entry, chine sweep, and most critical, not being greedy with too much deadrise.
The combination is a hull shape that forgives rather than bites - right down to the baby in the fleet C450.
SUPPORT WHEN YOU NEED
We provide direct phone and email assistance through the build. Help if you get stuck, explaining a detail, or practical boat-building tips.
QUALITY DRAWINGS & DETAILING
Everything is designed with a build process in mind, and a skill set to suit DIY boat-builders. Detailed step-by-step instructions, terminology ‘explainers’ and work flow charts to follow. Decades of aluminium design and boatbuilding expertise go into every kit.
The Process
We offer a range of plate aluminium boat kits to choose from; deep vee water ballasted monohulls, and catamarans. If you don’t see the size or type you’re looking for on our website then ask us – it may be in development already.
We then ship your selected model to you as a flat pack, pre cut boat kit, for you to build in your shed, garage or carport. A comprehensive set of build drawings and instructions is provided.
Orders throughout Australia are CNC router cut and shipped from Brisbane or Perth. Overseas orders may be shipped from Australia or from a supplier nearer to your location - contact us for details. Prices are listed alongside each individual boat kit in the models section, in Australian dollars excluding GST.
Once the hull is complete you need to organise a trailer, engine(s), fitout, electrics and paint, and you’re ready for the water. You can make a big saving on the cost of a new boat, and nothing beats the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Alternatively if you simply like our designs but don’t want to tackle the whole DIY side, then we can organise that for you too – contact us for details.
What’s Included
All of the aluminium you need to build the structure of the boat is supplied, including developed shell plates, frames, stringers and all main hull, deck and cabin structure. All aluminium plate is 5083 marine grade, and mill certified to class society regulations (Eg. Lloyds, DNV).
Hull structure is designed to ISO requirements as a minimum. Hull bottom structure is generally designed to class society requirements (eg. DNV), which is significantly above the minimum AMSA requirements for commercial vessels in Australia.
All our plate boat kits are designed to Australian Builders Plate (ABP) requirements, and compliance documentation is supplied with the kit. Importantly, all of our quoted ABP load ratings are to AS1799.1 Open Waters requirements, which includes stability calculations. This is a very different specification to an ABP rating based on Protected Waters, which measures reserve buoyancy; not stability.
We make good use of folded parts in our kits for a nice finish and to reduce welding, so things like gunwales, side pockets, seat boxes, and the dash are supplied flat but with fold lines pre-marked for you to take to a machine shop to do the pressings.
We also include items like fuel tanks, handrails, gunwale rubbing strip, keel bar and rod holders. Documentation is tailored specifically to the home / DIY boatbuilder, and includes:
a comprehensive set of 3D hull engineering construction drawings
build sequence and step by step instructions
parts list
welding details & specifications
phone and email support during construction